Posted on 06/03/2023 9:51:31 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
An unprecedented record of medieval live comedy performance has been identified in a 15th-century manuscript. Raucous texts—mocking kings, priests and peasants; encouraging audiences to get drunk; and shocking them with slapstick—shed new light on Britain's famous sense of humor and the role played by minstrels in medieval society.
The texts contain the earliest recorded use of "red herring" in English, extremely rare forms of medieval literature, as well as a killer rabbit worthy of Monty Python. The discovery changes the way we should think about English comic culture between Chaucer and Shakespeare.
Throughout the Middle Ages, minstrels traveled between fairs, taverns and baronial halls to entertain people with songs and stories. Fictional minstrels are common in medieval literature but references to real-life performers are rare and fleeting. We have first names, payments, instruments played and occasionally locations, but until now virtually no evidence of their lives or work...
"The Hunting of the Hare" is a poem about peasants which is full of jokes and absurd high jinks. The poem features fictional peasants including Davé of the Dale and Jack Wade, who could be from any medieval village. One scene is reminiscent of Monty Python's "Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog":"Jack Wade was never so sad / As when the hare trod on his head / In case she would have ripped out his throat."Dr. Wade says, "Killer rabbit jokes have a long tradition in medieval literature. Chaucer did this a century earlier in the Canterbury Tales."
(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...
Part of 'The Hunting of the Hare' poem in the Heege Manuscript (p.4 verso), featuring the killer rabbit. The first lines read: "Jack Wade was never so sad / As when the hare trod on his head / In case she would have ripped out his throat."Credit: National Library of Scotland
The other GGG topics added since the previous digest ping, alpha sort:
Ya ... that line always cracks me up ... sheeee
But on topic ... I would imagine that the monty python group drew heavily on the old lore and tells. Truth be known, drawn on more then they would care to admit.
Some of the smallest countries on a world map have had enormous influence on the world in a cultural sense. For better or for worse.
Portugal, Japan, Germany, France. Greece, United Kingdom, Spain. Probably others.
Except for a few, the late Donald Rumsfeld used to refer to these countries as Old Europe.
India can thank the English for helping it to modernise, though not always in a pleasant fashion.
THis comes as no surprise. There were a few off color jokes which survived Bowdler in Shakespeare’s works, but apparently they were stripped of much of the humor to make them presentable to “respectable” folks.
Mores the pity, as they were there for the penny stinkers and royalty alike.
Thanks so much for posting!
Re "splapstick"...this goes back to Ancient Roman theatre and the name refers to two joined at the bottom only pieces of wood and used to hit another player or players. When an actor whacked someone else, the sticks made a "whack" sound.
Punch and Judy puppet shows used this device very early on, as did the traveling players of Medieval and the early 16th century Italian Commedia dell'arte ( which was also heavily based on Ancient Roman plays and characters! ) and spread across much of Europe.
And that's why we call comedy that relies heavily on physical "rough stuff"...."SLAPSTICK"!
You left out Italy.
She's not bad, she's just drawn that way!
Macedonia.
"Bringeth forth the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch!"
I absolutely love slapstick and sight gags.
My sister, only a little over a year older than me and I used to go to the matinee iin the days when there was a cartoon, a comedy short and the main feature. She would laugh as hard as the rest of us in the place, but today, she won’t watch slapstick or sight gags.
This article has somewhat restored my faith in human nature.
Though there are two things the Brits have always excelled at: Humor and whodunnits.
Yes, of that list, Portugal, Spain and England in particular punched far above their respective weights politically.
Must be where Benny Hill got his comedy ideas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmKKamDUiUk
Dr. James Wade must be happy to see a relative mentioned!
These are probably one comedian’s notes, stealing material from another comedian.
I think I hear the distinctive sound of “Yakety Sax.”
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